We will help fund studies, says Amazon

Online retail giant Amazon, which employs hundreds of people at its Hemel Hempstead warehouse, has announced a new perk for staff.

The Amazon Career Choice Programme will pre-pay 95 per cent of tuition and associated fees for nationally recognised courses.

The firm’s Roy Perticucci said: “For some of our employees, Amazon will be a career – for others it might be a stepping stone to a different job which may require additional training.

“If learning new skills can make the difference, we want to help.

“It can be difficult to have the flexibility and financial resources to learn new skills or fund new qualifications. Our goal is to enable choice.”

Eligible fields of study include engineering, IT, computer science, health and social care, construction, transportation and logistics and accounting.

Amazon has committed to fund up to £2,000 per year over four years.

The initiative was welcomed by the government’s minister of state for skills and learning Matthew Hancock, who said: “Giving employees the opportunity to strengthen their potential and learn new skills in this way will no doubt give many Amazon workers new vigour and direction.”